I don’t often have a salad as my dinner. Tonight was an exception, and a notable one.

It’s all about ingredients. I already had steamed beets in the fridge, as well as a single organic Portobello mushroom, thinly-sliced, marinating in Nama Shoyu, a little balsamic vinegar, and olive oil (plus a bit of garlic) for 24 hours. Mushrooms were dried on paper towels, so as not to overwhelm the dish with the Shoyu flavor.

So I cut up a head of organic romaine, a handful of organic arugula (both from Trader Joe’s), cubed the beets, and added julienned daikon radish, a few Matiz Piparras peppers (from La Tienda), and some chopped organic black pitted Italian olives from Russo’s.

Now the dressing: red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, whole grain French mustard, a bit of Gold’s horseradish (from a jar!), plus a few drops of cold water — all whisked together. I added the dressing, and tossed the salad. and added a vegan alternative to Parmesan — Almesan, from Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Veganomicon (page 207). That recipe is very simple:

1/4 cup of slivered or sliced almonds

1 tbs. toasted sesame seeds

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. lemon zest

Put everything in a blender or food processor. Pulse until everything turns to tiny crumbs. It works! And it keeps in the refrigerator a long time.

Serve with a Trader Joe’s Corn Tortilla cracker with sesame seeds, topped with tapenade and some homemade roasted red peppers.